Extract text from TBN files
To convert your TBN file to another format, you need Kodi or other Raster Image software.
To convert other file formats to the "Cached Image Asset" file type, you need software like Kodi or a similar tool.
A .tbn file is most commonly a cached thumbnail image used by the Kodi (formerly XBMC) media center software. While these files are technically standard JPEG images, they use the .tbn extension to prevent operating systems from cluttering gallery views or automatically indexing them. This creates a significant difficulty: users cannot preview the content using standard tools like Windows Photos or macOS Preview without renaming them manually. For media archivists or users recovering data from an old Kodi installation, converting these files to standard JPG or PNG is essential for accessibility, web use, and archiving.
However, the extension is ambiguous. A .tbn file might alternatively be a Message Base Index file for The Bat! email client, or a channel database file for satellite receivers using ALI Corp chipsets. Unlike the Kodi variant, these are proprietary binary data files. Converting them is generally not possible or requires specialized hex editing tools. Best practice is to first attempt converting to JPG; if the file renders, it is a Kodi thumbnail. If it fails or appears as garbage text, it is likely a system index file.
Convert.Guru analyzes your TBN file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted JPG, SKF, ITHMB and THM files.
If you want to convert TBN file to JPG, PDF, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, TIF, WEBP, ICO, CUR, PSD or PSB, you can use Kodi or similar software from the "Media Center Thumbnail Cache" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert RAW, PNG, AI, NEF, PSB, DNG, SVG, GIF, EPS, JPG, ARW or PDF files to TBN, try Kodi or another comparable tool in the "Media Center Thumbnail Cache" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our TBN converter.